Exorcist: The Beginning (2004)

When Father Lankester Merrin arrived to expunge a troublesome demon from Regan MacNeil in the original EXORCIST movie, many viewers were left cowering in fear. But questions remained as to the true identity of the mysterious Merrin, and how he rose to become such a potent force in the battle against demonic possession. For inquisitive fans still fervently pondering the unfathomable Merrin, help is at hand in the shape of this prequel film, EXORCIST: THE BEGINNING. In the post-World War II world, Merrin (Stellan Skarsgard) has seen his faith lapse due to some tumultuous firsthand experiences on the battlefield. Ta...
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king a lengthy sabbatical in an attempt to rekindle his belief, Merrin travels to East Africa. While there, he encounters an archaeological team who have uncovered a Byzantine-era church which, astonishingly, shows no visible signs of decay. Upon investigating the remarkable find, Merrin happens upon a crypt beneath the church, and inadvertently unleashes the same omnipotent demon that he duels with in the first EXORCIST movie. The local villagers unwittingly succumb to the powerful otherworldly force, and as chaos breaks out, Merrin experiences a cruel sense of irony when the very horrors he sought to escape engulf him once more.

Overcoming a difficult production that saw original director Paul Schrader ousted from the crew, Renny Harlin (DIE HARD 2) pulls out all the stops to deliver a creepy complimentary piece to the other EXORCIST movies. The casting of Skarsgard as the younger Merrin was a wise move, and neatly augments the work of fellow Swede Max Von Sydow in the first film. Working in the shadow of such a legendary movie is never easy, but Harlin manages to create a disquieting air of uneasy menace as he allows the tale to unfurl.
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Planned for years, but plagued by problems such as the death of director John Frankenheimer before production had even begun and the exiting of star Liam Neeson, the fourth installment of the Exorcist saga finally got off the ground with Paul Schrader (Affliction, Auto Focus) behind the camera and Stellan Skarsgård filling the shoes left empty by Neeson. But the pitfalls didn't stop there, as Morgan Creek decided against their initial approach assigned to Schrader after seeing his finished cut, and hired Renny Harlin to reshoot the film with extra gore and head-spinning nastiness. The first prequel in the series...
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, Exorcist: The Beginning is based upon events occurring before the first film. Playing the character made famous by Max von Sydow in the earlier films, this entry finds Skarsgård as a young Father Merrin facing true evil for the first time in Africa in the wake of World War II. When a young local boy begins to behave strangely, it becomes more and more apparent to Merrin that the child is a victim of demonic possession. Boasting a first-time screenplay by best-selling novelist Caleb Carr (The Alienist), Exorcist: The Beginning features a supporting cast headed by Izabella Scorupco (GoldenEye) and James D'Arcy (Master And Commander).
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1944: Lankester Merrin, een priester, wordt door terugtrekkende Nazi soldaten gedwongen om een leven-en-dood vonnis over zijn parochianen te vellen. Deze gebeurtenis breekt zijn geest en verwoest zijn geloof. In 1947 doet Merrin, nu archeoloog, een opzienbarende ontdekking in het noordwestelijk Turkana district van Brits Oost Afrika. Een Byzantijnse kerk wordt in volledig ongeschonden staat opgegraven. Ze is gebouwd en nadien begraven. Deze ontdekking trekt de aandacht van de aartsbisschop in Nairobi die, via Majoor Granville, de jonge priester Francis naar Derati in Turkana stuurt om Merrin's werk in het oog te ...
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houden.
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